EDITORIAL: Greens grandstanding is populism at its stupidest

It’s not that the Greens don’t support the Government’s proposed reforms to the Reserve Bank, designed to bolster the organisation’s expertise and legitimacy.

In fact, they say they would be quite happy to wave through the changes, among which is a move to establish a specialist monetary policy board to take over responsibility for setting the cash rate.

It’s just that before they do that, they first want to undermine the bank’s independence and legitimacy, by strong-arming Treasurer Jim Chalmers into invoking his never-used veto power to force a rate cut.

It’s nonsensical, populist politics at its stupidest.

In other words, standard practice for the Greens.

It’s a ridiculous proposal designed to do nothing other than generate some material for a self-congratulatory Instagram post to be shared among their economically illiterate supporters.

In the words of Finance Minister Kate Gallagher, it’s “economically irresponsible”.

“Well, I just think the Greens are out of control at the moment, full of self-importance and out seeking a populist approach to everything. And it’s crazy what they’re saying to us.”

“If that’s their ultimatum … no, we won’t work with that because that is crazy.”

Greens treasury spokesman Nick McKim echoed the words of Dr Chalmers when he said “renters and mortgage holders are getting smashed”.

“Housing affordability, on the figures out this morning, has never been worse in Australia, and we are unambiguously using our political power in the Parliament to fight to bring interest rates down mortgage holders get some much needed relief.”

Every mortgage holder in Australia is holding their breath for the day the Reserve Bank does decide that inflation is sufficiently under control to allow it to cut the rate.

Unfortunately, that day is very unlikely to be tomorrow, when the board concludes its September meeting.

The inflation dragon still has some fight in it yet, and although economic growth has slumped, the jobs market is still running too hot for the RBA to risk a rate cut.

To do so prematurely would be to invite inflation to run rampant again.

And despite what some of our leaders have been saying, it’s inflation that has the greater power to hurt Australians’ household finances.

Direct interference by the Government in the RBA’s duties as an inflation fighter would serve to shatter confidence in the institution as a whole. It would make the entire RBA board redundant. Why bother bolstering its legitimacy and expertise if there’s a chance a politician is simply going to overrule that expertise?

The Greens’ proposal is an absurd non-starter. There’s a very good reason the Treasurer’s veto power has never been invoked.

It’s another worrying insight into what we might expect in a future hung parliament, should the Greens hold the balance of power.

They don’t expect the Government to give into to their crazy demands, which would leave the nation worse off. This mob of wreckers simply thrive off the chaos and gridlock their grandstanding can cause.